Chapter 320: Threshing Machine

Xia Qing picked off the only three kernels from the white corn cob, placed them on a rock outside the shed, and called over the red squirrel that had been performing energetically.

"Freeloader, these are all the kernels from the first cob Old Big stripped—yours for free. No trade needed, take them and stash them away."

When Xia Qing turned back toward the corn shed, the red squirrel became a streak of red, snatching up every kernel on the rock before several birds diving for food could reach them, and fled.

The birds failed to grab any food, and with a flutter of wings flew back to the trees or rocks, staring fixedly at the corn shed, waiting for their next chance to snatch food.

The corn might be emitting a scent Xia Qing couldn't smell, and this scent was very attractive to birds.

A few impatient birds had already started pecking at the insect netting, trying to get into the shed to eat the corn.

More and more birds gathered, looking as if they'd make an even bigger scene than during the wheat harvest.

Xia Qing frowned, pressed the walkie-talkie button, and said, "Everyone, anyone harvesting corn today? When you were stripping the husks, did you see birds gathering by the shed?"

Zhong Tao answered immediately, "We've got them here too, it's scary. I don't dare strip the husks anymore, and I don't dare take the cobs outside the shed, afraid of being attacked by birds."

One little bird can't fight, but when dozens or hundreds charge together, they can peck a person until they're wounded—or killed.

Zhao's mother, who hadn't started harvesting corn yet, fretted along, "When too many small birds gather, they'll attract raptors. If the raptors just eat the birds, fine, but if they hurt someone or damage the shed, that'd be trouble."

Tang Huai came online and asked enthusiastically, "Xia Qing, harvesting corn? That's dirty, tiring hard work—need help? Free of charge, just give me a tender cob to take home and boil after you're done."

If she used the cob with only three kernels as payment for Tang Huai, would he go mad?

Xia Qing grinned, "Not many stalks, already finished."

Tang Huai……

As if I've never been to your territory? So much corn—how could you possibly finish it in such a short time?

Qi Fu, who hadn't started harvesting corn yet, spoke up, "Corn isn't like wheat. Once wheat is harvested, it dries in two or three days. Corn needs good weather for over half a month; with bad weather, it won't dry in a month or two. We can't spare a few people to chase birds for half a month—we need to think of a good solution."

Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine spotted a business opportunity and came online immediately.

"Honored Lords, Territory Nine has a chemical agent that disperses birds. You only need one bottle for 300 points, and it can protect an area of 60 square meters for ten days. Within those ten days, not a single bird will be able to peck at the fruits of your labor, which you spent 110 days growing."

Kuang Qingwei politely asked, "Assistant Liu, is this a new product? I remember you said last time that Territory Nine's bird repellent only works on birds below level six."

Assistant Xiao Liu's voice was warm, "Mr. Kuang, your memory is excellent. This isn't a new product—it really only works on birds below level six, but over ninety-five percent of birds above level six are carnivorous raptors, and raptors aren't interested in corn."

"Alright, understood." Kuang Qingwei replied cheerfully.

Assistant Xiao Liu sensed that Kuang Qingwei had no intention of buying the bird repellent, and turned to tackle potential target customers, "Miss Xia, what do you think? Your territory has less labor, so you need new methods and new technology to protect the corn, right?"

Xia Qing replied politely, "I don't need it for now. I can use the covers I used when drying cotton to cover the corn, which provides some bird-proofing effect. Also, I need to save up points to fence in my territory—living alone without a fence just doesn't feel safe."

Even without the covers, Xia Qing had no intention of using Territory Nine's bird repellent. Because it's a chemical agent, and Xia Qing still wants to save seeds for planting—how could she let chemical agents touch the corn seeds?

Not just her—other lords thought the same way.

Before the catastrophe, chemical synthetic agents were indeed indispensable for agriculture. But after the catastrophe, it's been confirmed that using chemical synthetic agents increases the probability of crop mutation and pollutes the soil.

No matter why Li Si keeps devoting himself to this research, Xia Qing has no intention of joining in and using her grain and land to gather data for Li Si.

Assistant Xiao Liu, having failed to close a deal, went offline. Kuang Qingwei began his business talk, "Everyone, did you listen to last night's farming knowledge broadcast? Heard the introduction to corn harvesters, right?"

"Heard it. Brother Qing got a harvester—which kind?" Zhao Ze, who hadn't managed to grab the walkie-talkie for several days, finally came online.

Xia Qing had also listened to last night's farming knowledge broadcast and learned that there are two types of large corn harvesters: one called a grain harvester, and one called a snapper harvester. As the names suggest, the former outputs corn kernels after harvesting, while the latter outputs corn cobs.

These two harvesters have different requirements for the maturity of the corn when used.

Grain harvesters require the corn cobs to be fully mature, otherwise the kernels will be partially crushed during mechanical threshing.

The violent mutation elements and highly destructive microorganisms in Blue Star's atmosphere after the mutation will cause crushed corn kernels to mold within just a few days.

This type of machine isn't suitable, because after harvesting corn in the territory, the fields need to be prepared for planting wheat. If they wait until the kernels are hard enough for the grain harvester, they'll have missed the optimal time for planting wheat.

The snapper harvester doesn't require the corn to be fully mature and can be used now, but it only serves to crush the stalks and snap the cobs. With so little corn in the territory, there's no need to use this kind of farm machinery at all.

It's not just useless in the territories—the Safe Zone Planting Center also harvests corn manually to conserve resources.

Xia Qing felt Kuang Qingwei wouldn't get either of these two harvesters, because surely no one would buy or rent them.

Sure enough, what Kuang Qingwei mentioned wasn't either of those two, "What I got isn't a large harvester—it's an electric-powered corn thresher."

"Strip the corn and dry it for two days, then you can use the thresher to separate the kernels from the cob, then dry them another one to three days, and the kernels can be bagged and stored. In other words, using a thresher can cut the corn-drying time down to within five days."

Xia Qing's heart stirred—this was truly very appealing.

Kuang Qingwei quoted the price, "The thresher I got is a new model developed by Hui-2 Base. It can thresh 2,000 jin of corn per hour. Buying it costs 1,500 points per machine; renting it costs 20 points per hour, and if you rent, I'll send a worker over to help with the threshing."

This kind of machine is only used once a year—renting is more cost-effective than buying.

Xia Qing was the first to sign up, "I'll use it for one hour at ten in the morning the day after tomorrow."

Kuang Qingwei, having secured business, was very pleased, "Alright, I'll have the machine delivered to the stop sign for you, miss, at nine forty-five."

After other lords successively signed up to rent threshers, everyone began discussing how to keep birds away while drying the kernels.

Zhang San, who never participated in such discussions, came online, "My cat is very efficient at catching birds and can take this mission. I won't charge a fee, but all the birds caught belong to the cat. Apart from Territory Three, all other territories are fine."

Hearing this, Xia Qing's sorrow had already become a river.